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Posts Tagged ‘James’

How We Write – New Day Dawning

This James Cavanagh story takes place right before he shows up at the science fiction convention in Dreaming of Xeres (DoX), and where he ends up embroiled in exactly the things he’d hoped to avoid. Orion had already written this vignette and another James story, Crossroads, before we’d even thought about adding James to the DoX cast. But in he walked, telling us he had history with another character and didn’t we need a cop anyway?

We’ve noticed that characters tend to walk onto our stage and demand to be included in the action. It’s like they’re fully formed and waiting in the wings for their chance in the spotlight. The more fully realized the character, the more likely he or she is to tell us what they want to do. This is where the prep work of building a character really begins to pay off


 

NEW DAY DAWNING

Running thru the smoke and din of battle, I clutch my M4 in a death grip. I jump at every sound.

I lost contact with my squad.

Where the hell is everyone?

The shockwave from a bursting mortar shell sends me tumbling through an open doorway. (more…)

How We Write – Crossroads

This is a strange piece. Orion wrote it either before or while we were writing Dreaming of Xeres, creating the character of James Brendan Cavanagh. After that, James did a walk-on in Dreaming. Then he pushed his way into being a major character in that book!

That happens when a character becomes three-dimensional. We have extensive spreadsheets on information about all our major characters, as well as many of our minor characters. It helps to round out the characters and often gives us jumping off points for stories or actions in our novels and short stories. Those spreadsheets (in Google Docs) are a combination of arbitrary determinations, like, he/she likes the color purple or things the characters or stories tell us about the characters, such as, what things Alex’s college friends are into and what career choices they made after college (CITE STORY HERE).

When we need a minor character, we can dip into the spreadsheet of science fiction convention attendees from DOX (Dreaming of Xeres), pick a city or an occupation we need, and hit the ground running with a name and other information to personalize the story.

We highly recommend spreadsheets!


Photo by Duke Cullinan on Unsplash

CROSSROADS

Around him the airport swirled and muttered and clamored, but to Tin Man, all was quiet. The wall of ice he’d built about himself kept out any trace of the humanity around him. None of them mattered. Not to him. His heart did not beat for them. His mind shut out any attempted emotional contact from them.

The doors from the passenger tunnel opened, disgorging the latest airline passengers: harried parents with children, rumpled businessmen with slim briefcases, and young men and women with backpacks and ear buds that spilled out thin drifts of music as they passed.

A gaggle of Asian students eddied around him, chattering in high-pitched voices, the cadence of their language falling strangely on his ears. A reunion broke out at the front of the waiting crowd, all balloons, hugs, and tears. The prodigal son or daughter was wrapped in relatives and well-wishers like a Christmas present. (more…)

How We Write – Meeting On A Cold Winter’s Night

Our prompts for this one were: Hotel for Single Women and May I See an ID. As you have probably deduced from previous sets of prompts, there is no telling what will come up when you get several prolific writers together and ask them for prompts!

When Orion started thinking about the prompts, she envisioned a beat cop. That led her to think of her character, James Cavenaugh, who she created for a couple of other short stories. He would later bull his way into the main cast of Dreaming of Xeres, the first book in our Third War series.

(Kyros: He was only supposed to be a bit player. We needed a cop and he was perfect. Then he just wouldn’t stop showing up. He demanded to be a bigger part of the story.)

(Orion: That sometimes happens, when you create a character. They become real to you, then they start dictating their own actions and reactions!)

Anyway, after delving a bit into his history, Orion decided he’d do perfectly well as the policeman for this story. That set the location as Boston, James’ hometown, and gave her the general time period (the mid-2000s).

So, who would James meet? And why would he need to see an ID? To satisfy the Hotel for Single Women prompt, it seemed obvious to make the person a woman and the story grew from there.

When Orion originally wrote the story, the woman pulled out a cap gun like the ones Orion grew up with in the fifties. You know, the ones that looked like Roy Rogers just drew it out of his holster?

When Kyros first read it, he shook his head and got a good laugh out of it, saying, ‘They don’t make cap guns anymore! And the toy guns they do make all have orange plugs over the end of the barrel to denote that they are fake.’

Orion was apoplectic. (Orion: What? Does that mean I can’t get caps for my toy guns? AARGH!)

(Kyros: Don’t worry, she can, she just has to find an antique toy dealer who still carries them. Though why would she wanna shoot off a cap gun? Who knows?)

So, in the original story, the gun was a cap pistol, but a quick shot of reality meant that, for the story to work, the gun had to be real.


Photo by Annie Niemaszyk on Unsplash

 

MEETING ON A COLD WINTER’S NIGHT

“May I see some ID, please?”

The young woman hesitated, then pulled her bag off of her shoulder and began to dig around inside. She shivered in the cool night air.

Jim Cavanaugh shifted from one foot to the other as the chill penetrated his stiff boots. Gods, I hate working the night shift. It wouldn’t be so bad if the streets were better lit. He glanced down at the uneven cobblestones under his feet. Or less treacherous to walk on.

And why does everything squeak when I move? It’s like I’m a walking police advertisement. ‘Hey, look at the rookie. Brand-new uniform and he makes funny noises when he walks.’ He mentally shook his head. And I get stuck working the overnight shift dealing with all the drunks and hookers.

He sighed, still waiting for the woman…no, girl, he amended.

“Miss?” he prompted, raising an eyebrow. (more…)

Hornets

We wondered what James and Diana were like before Bryce came along and drove them apart.
Here’s just one of their adventures. Enjoy!


“Hurry up, Jimmy B! We don’t want your folks or your brothers to catch us with these fireworks! Your ma’ll skin both of us!” Diana hissed as she passed into the woods bordering the picnic area.

“I’m coming, princess,” Jimmy said, catching up with her. “I thought I saw someone.”

The girl shrugged. “Probably just Rory. He’s always following us.”

(more…)

Coats, Hats, Scarves, And Gloves

Even after he managed to drive James and Diana apart,
Bryce proves how possessive he is of Diana. Enjoy!


“What am I supposed to do with this cowboy hat?” Jimmy Cavanaugh asked his little brother, holding up the battered straw hat.

Making a face at Jimmy, Rory said, “Personally, I’d throw it away, but maybe some kid will love it.” He looked around at the mostly sorted sacks and bags, piled full of cold weather clothing that the high schoolers had donated. “Toss it here. I have room for it in the top of this grocery bag.”

Jimmy tossed the orphan hat at Rory, but he misjudged the throw. The hat sailed over Rory’s head, landing in the hallway beyond him.

(more…)

Maybe the Glass Is Half Full

We wondered how James ended up in San Francisco.
Turns out his older brother Kevin had something to do with it. Enjoy!


“Another whiskey, laddy?”

Around him, the atmosphere of the bar muttered, clinked, and scraped as the afternoon crowd went about its business. At the back, around the bend of the long mahogany bar, Jimmy Cavanaugh stared morosely at the few remaining drops of amber in his whiskey glass.

Looking up at the man behind the bar, he shrugged. “Yeah. I guess.”

(more…)